Guide to date Starfire
by itsnnoah
Summary: In order to date Starfire, Robin writes a guide with a bunch of not-so-heplful tips to do so. But truth is... doesn't he know how to simply say "I love you"?
1. Chapter 1

Guide to date Starfire

By Robin

1\. _Do things she likes._

If there was something Robin was good at, it was sports, especially gymnastics. He was also good at doing tricks (he could find coins behind ears). Oh, and how could anyone forget his uncanny ability to sneak up on people?

But Cyborg had known him for many years now, and there was something he wasn't good at.

Flirting.

He'd never been a good flirter either, but he was definitely good than his leader. Robin was the lamest when it came to Starfire, and it was that he wasn't very subtle with his crush, either—every time he was near her, he started acting clumsy, though Cyborg had come to guess that Robin thought he was being all suave and cool. Which was lame too. Once Cyborg entered his room to ask him about the H.I.V.E. and saw Robin writing something in a notebook; he was so caught up in it he didn't notice Cyborg, and before Robin could close it, Cyborg read the title— _Guide to date Starfire_. Who wrote a book about dating someone? He wasn't even _dating_ her.

 _Whatever_.

Cyborg didn't know anything else about this guide, but he was definitely curious—what would he do? He hadn't seen Robin do anything weirder than usual, so he supposed that he was waiting for something. Or maybe he had just given up the idea of writing a guide, though Cyborg didn't think it was the latest option.

Two weeks had passed since he saw Robin writing it, anyway. So maybe he didn't do anything after all.

"I think the microwave is broken," came Beast Boy's voice from the kitchen. "Cyborg! Come fix it!"

"I am not here to fix things, Beast—man, what are you doing?"

He wasn't talking to Beast Boy, who was still shouting at him from the kitchen, but at Robin, who had just come from the hallway, and was carrying the biggest paper box Cyborg had ever seen. It almost covered Robin whole, and Cyborg couldn't even think of a decent reason to explain _why_. It was closed, but a few cables and wires came from the inside and hanged outside. When Robin heard Cyborg, he stopped short and let the box fall to the floor. Metal clashing against metal sounded when the box reached it.

Robin was smiling like a psycho. "Hi, Cyborg. What's up?"

"What's inside that box?" asked Cyborg, thinking if this had anything to do with Robin's guide.

"This? Oh, it's nothing. Just stuff."

 _Yeah, I'm not stupid_. "And where are you going?"

"Eh." Robin rubbed this neck, and Cyborg could confirm that this was totally connected with the guide. Robin only rubbed his neck when he was nervous, and now he looked as if he was ready to jump from the window. "I'm going on a walk."

"With a box?"

"Batman has asked me to bring him some things, okay?" He picked up the box again, and Cyborg could have sworn that he heard Robin's spine crack. "Top secret. Bye."

"Yes, pal. Whatever you say."

Well, he'd found another thing Robin was bad at—lying when he was nervous. And if he was nervous, it had to mean he was going to do something _with_ Starfire, or _to_ Starfire, or _implying_ Starfire. Which meant it had something to do with his _Guide to date Starfire_ for sure. Which meant Cyborg had to follow him to know; he hadn't been waiting for two weeks for nothing.

"Cyborg, the MICROWAVE," yelled Beast Boy again, and this time Cyborg went to the kitchen, only not to fix the microwave. When Beast Boy saw him, he looked surprised yet pleased. "Oh, I thought you wouldn't come."

"Listen," Cyborg said, grabbing Beast Boy by the shoulders and shaking him to make him focus. Then he told him everything he knew about Robin's guide, which wasn't much, but it was _something_. Then he told him about Robin carrying a big box with something metallic in it, about Robin lying about where he was going and, the most important thing, he told him that Starfire wasn't home. "And Robin has just left, so that could only mean one thing—"

"They are meeting outside," Beast Boy finished, gasping. "What are we going to do?"

Cyborg chuckled. "Follow Robin, of course. But we have to be fast, or else we are going to lose him, so… go!"

* * *

They'd been following Robin for _two_ hours, and they'd gone _nowhere_. First they found Robin walking to the park of Jump City, so Cyborg guessed he was just going to meet Starfire there (which didn't explain the box, but it was the best thing he could come up with), but after an hour walking without a destiny, Robin left the park and went to the street. Anyone would have thought that the weight of the box would have crushed him already, but the guy kept on like nothing. And so they walked among Jump City's streets for another hour, and this time Robin just kept turning around corners like if he knew he was being followed and was trying to miss them.

Beast Boy suggested that maybe they should leave him and wait until he returned home, and then they could corner him and ask him what had he done, or if he'd been with Starfire indeed, but Cyborg wasn't going to give up now. So they walked after Robin, waiting for something, _anything_ , until they got it.

It was when they'd been following Robin for almost three hours when he finally got into a building. Neither Beast Boy nor Cyborg knew where they were, but they climbed to the roof to see what was going on inside through the crystal dome. Why would they want a crystal dome in this building, Cyborg didn't know.

"You think they are both here? I can't see them," said Beast Boy, trying to look from different angles.

"Just wait, I'm sure they are here," assured Cyborg.

And just then, as if a god had heard him, Robin appeared with his huge box and a woman that definitely wasn't Starfire. She was way older than Robin, in her thirties, and had curly brown hair. She was talking to him with a big smile, and Cyborg wished he knew how to read lips. Robin laughed with her, and the box almost fell to the floor.

"Dude," muttered Beast Boy, "what is Robin up to?"

Cyborg had an idea.

"Turn into an ant," he said, and Beast Boy stared at him with both eyebrows raised. "Turn into an ant so you can enter through the dome and listen what they are saying. And then come back and tell me."

"Oh, right."

He turned into an ant and disappeared while Cyborg looked at Robin, trying to guess what he was doing. Build something for Starfire? Try to flirt with her here… wherever _here_ was? Cyborg didn't want to think about it, but maybe he was wrong and this wasn't something related with his guide, and it was just an embarrassing hobby, or something like that. But it was—

 _There_. He was _right_. Covering his mouth so he wouldn't gasp loudly, he looked at the door of the room, and saw Starfire entering. She was dressed in normal clothes and had glasses to cover her green eyes, but there she was, carrying another box, though this was way bigger than Robin's and she seemed to handle it better than him.

The woman that had been talking with Robin turned at the sound of Starfire, and she smiled even bigger and went to hug her. She said something and then she, Robin and Starfire went to one of the tables, leaving there their boxes. Then they emptied them, and Cyborg didn't know what to think.

They had all types of tools for… carving rocks, or something like that. Chisels, nails, augers… and that stuff. Cyborg didn't see any rocks, but it _couldn't_ be. Robin didn't like to carve. It didn't make any sense—

Except Starfire _did_ like to carve. She'd mentioned it once or twice, that she was going to her sculpting classes, that she was getting better at it, that she would make sculptures of them someday.

Cyborg almost laughed out loud. Robin was doing this because Starfire liked it?

Beast Boy returned a minute later. He was almost laughing too. "Dude, you wouldn't believe it. They are—"

"Carving rocks," finished Cyborg, getting up. "Come on, I already know what he's doing. And he's nuts."

* * *

When Robin came back home, he had his hair dirty with rock crumbs, his face a mess, and had a lot of bandages in his hands. Cyborg and Beast Boy, who were playing video games, paused the one they were playing to look at his friend. Starfire came a second later, all smiley and beautiful as always.

"It was fun, right?" she was saying. "I am anxiously waiting for you to come back next week!"

Robin, who seemed exhausted, managed to smile. "Yeah, yeah, I can't wait either."

Starfire hugged him, and Robin seemed to cheer up until she said, "You are the best of _friends_ in the world!"

Robin opened his eyes like crazy, looking like he was about to cry, and this time Cyborg and Beast Boy couldn't help but burst out laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

_2\. Be fragile in front of her._

It'd been a long while since someone had hurt one of their members this badly, and Raven sincerely didn't know _what_ to do. She was used to Beast Boy asking her to heal a scratch on his knee, to Cyborg changing some metallic parts and asking Raven to help him, to Starfire asking her if this bump on her head was normal or not.

But she definitely wasn't used to Robin being the injured one.

Raven was aware that he didn't have powers (not that he needed them, though), but sometimes she forgot that there were things that were a bit too much. That he was careless when it came to fighting, and he was strong-headed. He was also intelligent, but he didn't stop until he got things done.

And sometimes that made him vulnerable. Like this time. Oh, Raven was going to kill him if he survived this.

They'd been fighting some monster they'd never seen before, made of violet goo or something like that. At first it seemed easy to fight, but after half an hour trying to subdue it—and failing—they started to think otherwise. But it only threw punches and vomited goo, so… they thought it was pretty harmless.

And again, they'd been wrong.

Raven had suggested retiring, thinking of a strategy, coming back. But Robin had declined and kept on fighting, making the monster angrier and angrier until it stopped vomiting goo and started throwing spikes at them. At this point all of them wanted to run away and make a plan like Raven had said, but Robin didn't want to hear them.

So Cyborg and Beast Boy and Starfire yelled at him to come with them. Robin ignored them, but at one point he turned around to face them and the monster took advantage of this, _impaling_ Robin with one of his spikes. Which wasn't very good of him.

They had to distract the monster to keep it from harming Robin any further; Starfire picked him up while Cyborg and Beast Boy shouted and hit it, and Raven had to stop Robin from bleeding out. It was a mess—the monster had impaled Robin in the stomach, and Raven wasn't a doctor, so she had no idea what to do; she knew how to cure a scratch or help fix Cyborg's robotic parts or that a bump on the head weren't big deals, but this was other thing completely. They had to bring him to a hospital, but they didn't want to reveal who he was. They could also unmask him and _then_ bring him to the hospital, but it would take too long. So at last they brought him to the tower and Starfire decided to call the Batman.

(How she had his number, no one knew).

At one point, Robin started to act delirious. Which wasn't good either.

"I can't believe," he was saying, his eyes closed, his forehead sweaty, "how much I love you guys."

"Oh, Robin," muttered Starfire, her eyes pooling with tears. She was holding one of Robin's hands, and Raven could have sworn that Robin was actually enjoying dying just because of this. " _We_ love you too."

One of his eyes opened, and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish gaping for water, as if he didn't know what to say. Then he smirked, and Raven could tell that something bad had come to his mind—she considered making him unable to talk, but discarded it. He'd got himself impaled for being stubborn, now he had to deal with the consequences.

His head lolled to one side, facing them all. "I was hoping you to say something more personal," he said, talking to Starfire.

"Like what?" Starfire asked, inclining her head to one side as well.

Raven wanted to puke—even she knew what was going between these two, and she didn't pay attention to anything. It was silly seeing them like this—if she were the one in Robin's place (not that she wanted to) and her crush were on Starfire's place (not that this crush existed either) she would probably… be like Robin. Yeah, well, she was _Raven_. Anyway. Robin was the one dying now, not her.

"Like—"

But he couldn't finish, because he started coughing, and it looked like he was actually about to _die_. Blood sputtered from his mouth, and while Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg stared at him waiting for it to stop, begging for it to stop, Starfire started crying.

It was really desolating—none of them had ever been hurt this badly, and as much as everyone had hated Robin once in their lives, they all loved him. Robin was their leader, but he was also their friend; as far as Raven knew, all of them had sometime gone to him to ask something personal, an opinion, to share something that scared them. Raven knew that Cyborg had talked to Robin about his insecurities of being part robot part human, that Beast Boy had told him about the Doom Patrol when he couldn't bear it anymore, that Starfire went to him when she missed her planet because Robin made her feel like home again. Raven herself had told him about her demon father, because as much as she liked to keep things to herself, Robin and she were very much alike.

Now that she thought about it, Raven had never heard Robin talk about himself with any of them. Even when he inhaled that gas and saw Slade everywhere, when he was so beaten up he couldn't get up anymore, he didn't talk about it with any of them. Raven felt bad, because while he'd carried the world in his shoulders, everyone's burdens, no one had helped _him_ carry _his_.

She felt tears prickle in her eyes, but she batted them away. She wasn't going to cry because Robin wasn't going to die.

"Dude," muttered Beast Boy, his eyes also teary, his voice broken, "I really regret having laughed at his guide."

"It was pretty original," said Cyborg, looking down.

Raven wasn't in the mood of asking, but she did it anyway. "What guide are you talking about?"

Cyborg and Beast Boy stared at each other, as if it—whatever _it_ meant—was something that should be kept a secret, something private. But by the looks of it, they were talking about a guide belonging to Robin, or a guide made by Robin, or… something like that. Raven wasn't very inclined to gossiping, but now she wanted to know about it. If Robin was dying, at least she'd like to know something more about him.

Finally, Cyborg sighed. "Robin made a guide about dating Starfire."

Raven lifted a brow, and Beast Boy smiled, though it was a sad smile. "He's not even dating Star," he murmured, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Remember the other day, when he went out and we followed him?"

"Yes?"

"He went to carve rocks because she likes to."

"We think it was the first thing in this guide of his. It didn't have many pages when I saw it." Raven didn't know if Cyborg could cry or not, but he looked even worse than Robin, his face blank and his eye gone.

She didn't know if she wanted to laugh at the stupidity Robin had been doing to make Starfire like him (even though she already liked him) or if she wanted to _cry_ because how sad it was, all at the same time. If he died, this guide would die with him—Cyborg had said that it didn't have many pages, so Raven didn't think it was completed. And how sad would it be, if Robin died with it?

"Robin?" muttered Starfire, leaning on him, clutching his hand even harder. "Dick? Please, answer me."

Starfire wiped the blood on his chin with her sleeve and Robin opened his eyes, held Starfire's hand too. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, as if it were painful to even do that. _Of course it is_ , thought Raven, grimacing; he'd been impaled, of course it would hurt to even smile.

"Robin," Raven found herself saying, though she didn't know how to continue the sentence. All the Titans looked at her, waiting for something else. All but Robin, who simply kept his smile, as if _knowing_. Knowing what she meant, even if she herself didn't know.

"I want Raven," Robin sputtered, "to be the next leader. And I want Cyborg to make sure I'm buried next to my parents." He sounded as if he had planned this speech a long time ago, as if he'd been careful of what to do if he was about to die. It made Raven think how creepy he was, but also how clever—if she died, where would she be buried? What would happen to all her things? She hadn't thought about it, not even one time. "And Beast Boy," this time his smile didn't make him look in pain, but delirious. "I want you to keep my things, everything you want to."

"Dude," was all Beast Boy said, now crying.

"Star," he muttered at last, his eyes closed. She jerked up at the sound of her name, looking devastated, as if he had already died. Raven noticed that she was rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "I want you to keep everything I have in the box under my bed. And I want you to know that I—"

"Yes?" asked Starfire, eyes hopeful and teary. "What is it? What do you want me to know?" But it was too late for him to answer. He lost his grip on Starfire's hand, and Raven barely heard his heart, too tired to keep going. Starfire, however, cupped his face with her hands, rubbing his cheeks with her thumbs, salty drops falling on his face from her eyes. "Robin," she said, commanding him to wake up. "Dick." Still no response. "Dick Grayson, do not dare to stop fighting. Do not—" a sob escaped her throat, and Beast Boy covered his face with his hands. "Do not give up. Don't abandon me—us. Dick—"

But she couldn't finish whatever she was going to say, because someone opened the door, and—anyone would have thought that the Batman was a soulless man, someone who only thought about trapping villains and keeping his city save, but even though he had his mask on, he looked worried. He looked as if someone had just told him his son had died.

He didn't stop looking at Robin, but when he spoke, he was waiting for an answer. "How long has he been like this? How long since he was—impaled?"

He sounded even worse than he looked. "Half an hour, a little less," said Cyborg.

"Dick," he said, and as Starfire, he sounded like if he was commanding him to wake up. Starfire backed off, and the Batman cupped his cheeks this time, brushed this thumbs against his skin. " _Dick_ , don't you dare. You're not going to go anywhere, you hear me? _Anywhere_."

* * *

"He's okay," said the Batman, drying his hands with a towel. "And he's awake. But he isn't going to be able to chase people for a while, so _please_ make sure he doesn't."

All of them nodded, but Raven didn't care about that, because everyone knew Robin was going to start chasing villains as soon as he could walk. He was a very strong-headed boy, and sometimes it made him vulnerable, but it was what made him _Robin_. And everyone had hated Robin at one point or another, but all of them loved him.

The Batman sighed, but he looked happy. "You can see him now."

Before he ended the sentence the Titans were already running to his room. He had his eyes closed, but opened them as soon as he heard the door open; Starfire was the first to enter, so she was the first one he saw, and Raven could have sworn that his face lit. "Dude, you scared us!" shouted Beast Boy.

"Do not do that again," muttered Starfire, hugging him. Robin _oomphed_ , and Starfire quickly backed off. "Sorry, sorry."

"I'm all right," Robin amended, and this time Starfire didn't only hug him, but she also kissed him on the cheek. "I'm great."

Cyborg's laugh boomed. "Man, I really wish this wasn't on your guide."

Robin's eyes widened in surprise, but when Cyborg held up his hands in the air, Robin just rolled his eyes and let it go.

Raven smiled once more when Robin repeated, "I'm truly all right."


	3. Chapter 3

3\. _Spend time_ _trapped_ _alone with her._

It had taken an unexpected turn. Robin had thought about every possible thing that could happen, _everything_. And this wasn't on his plans, and he had a plan b and c and d and f and on and on and on. He'd planned everything, and this wasn't on his list. He even had a plan j goddammit.

He was about to start shouting when Starfire grunted. She had her hands raised, pointing towards the door, and she was about to—

"No, Starfire don't—!"

But it was too late: she'd already shoot one of her starbolts. As Robin had feared, it didn't dissolve when it touched the door, but ricocheted against it and went for them. Starfire yelped and dodged it easily, but Robin had it more complicated, as he couldn't _fly_ , and the starbolt scratched his arm. It was nothing, but it burnt like hell, and Robin couldn't help but think of how quickly everything had turned. They'd been supposed to only take a look at the place— _don't attack_ , he'd said, but he'd been the first one to attack when he saw Doctor Light. Now he was trapped in this icy room, and he'd taken Starfire with him.

He didn't know where they were—Doctor Light had knocked them out, and when he woke up here he was, wherever _here_ was. Icy air was coming from somewhere, and the boxes, full of fish (they'd checked them as soon as they were on their feet) were frozen. If they didn't get out soon, they would die because of the cold.

Come on, Robin hadn't survived being impaled to die because of the _cold_. Dying because he'd been impaled would have been much cooler at least.

"Ugh!" Starfire grunted again. This time, she punched the door. Again, it didn't even tremble. "If we had Raven here, she could do something about this stupid door. I am so cold."

"They are going to find us," muttered Robin, not so sure himself. He untied his cape and fixed it around Starfire's shoulders; it wouldn't do much, but it was something. "We can't get out of here as far as I can tell."

"I could tell that," snapped Starfire, and Robin stopped thinking about an escape to look at her for a second.

The first thing he noticed was that she was angry—furious, even. She had her fists clenched and her face was a shade of red. She punched the door again, and Robin realised that he hadn't seen her like this in a long time. He didn't even remember seeing her like this _ever_. She'd been like this all day, now that he thought about it; she'd being rude at him on the tower this morning, and the same during their mission. Her sweet voice was nowhere to be found, and Robin feared that if he asked what was wrong with her, she could punch him as well.

But everyone knew this Robin had a death-wish. Kind of. He also had a crush. "Ehm… Star? Are you all right?"

Starfire turned around, and the first thing Robin could think of doing was pray to someone she wouldn't blast him with one of her starbolts. He didn't know if he was scared or turned on. Or both. He shook his head, trying to concentrate—this wasn't the time for his hormones to kick in. They were trapped in an ice-cold prison, and an alien princess was very probably going to kill him.

He raised his hands in peace. "Hey, I'm just trying to help."

Starfire was about to say something, but suddenly her brows furrowed and she levitated towards Robin. She caught his injured arm and inspected it. "I hurt you." It wasn't a question, but a confirmation. She bit her lip, and then turned around again; this time she rested her back against the door and then slid down until she was sat. She hugged her legs and buried her face in them—she didn't look angry anymore, but defeated.

Robin stalked closer, with no idea of what was happening. Last night she'd been all smiles and happiness, and now she was moody? He tried to remember if today was an important date, but he didn't think so. It wasn't her birthday or the anniversary of when she'd arrived to earth. Maybe something had happened with Donna? Robin didn't have a clue.

"Why are you upset?" he asked, making his voice sound as soft and understanding as he could. Damn, he was bad at this. He didn't know how to talk about feelings—he was used to the Titans coming to him to tell him about _their_ feelings (how Cyborg felt a little bad about having put salt in Beast Boy's ice-cream, how Raven was so angry at her mother sometimes, how Starfire missed her planet so much) but this was different. Robin wasn't used to talk to people like this, to… _ask_ about their feelings. He didn't talk. He heard. And now he had to talk and it was killing him because he didn't know what to say.

"We did not tell the rest of the Titans where we were going," she responded, and Robin knew that this wasn't the reason she was acting so weird.

"They will find us."

"You are so sure of that." Her voice was muffled, but Robin could hear the anger in it. Come on, there had to be something, some reason why she was like this. Robin didn't think he'd done something wrong, didn't he? Last night when he said good-night to Starfire he even had the courage to brush his hands with hers as she passed, and Starfire had giggled and entered her room. Then he'd been writing more of his guide—it resulted that almost dying was a good thing to get kissed (on the cheek, but it was still something). _Be fragile_. He was such a genius.

But they weren't talking about his guide. The point was, he hadn't done anything to upset her like this. Sighing, he stepped closed to the girl.

"Star," he muttered, getting on his knees. He was starting to feel really cold. "What's happened?"

When she looked up, she had tears on her eyes. "I think Silkie is dying."

Oh. "Oh. Why's that?"

"It does not eat anymore, and when before it liked to cuddle with me before we went to sleep, now it doesn't want to sleep with me anymore, no matter what. He has being like this for weeks now, but yesterday I found Silkie sleeping in the washing machine. And you know what does that mean, Robin."

"Uhm," he said, because he didn't have the slightest idea.

Starfire sobbed a little. "When a pet hides from its owner, it means they are going to die!"

So this was it? She was upset because she thought Silkie was dying? Maybe it was sick, or who knew, it wasn't a common pet, it could just be hungry and didn't like the food Starfire fed to it anymore. But how could he say this to her? She was so sure Silkie was going to die, and Robin didn't want to give her false hopes. He couldn't let her like this anyhow.

He sat beside her and took his glove off just so he could hold her hand, and ignoring the happy buzz he felt in his stomach at the contact of her skin, started rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb—he remembered her doing this when he was dying, and it had felt so calming. Maybe it comforted her now.

"Star—" he started, but a wave of cold air interrupted him. He looked up, to the various air conditioner machines in the walls. The air was colder, and Robin could feel his bones freezing. Even Starfire, who was more resistant to the cold than the average human, shivered.

His teeth started chattering, and Robin couldn't keep himself from letting go of Starfire's hand, put his glove back on and hug his knees, looking for a little warmth. Starfire gave him back his cape, but it didn't do much. He was going to freeze in no time if the cold air didn't stop. "Robin," Starfire whispered, moving closer to him to warm him a little. "Your skin is so blue."

She didn't seem upset anymore, but worried. "It's okay," he assured her, smiling, though he was sure it came out as a grimace. "The Titans are on their way, I'm sure."

"I hope you are right," she muttered.

* * *

"Dude, anyone has seen Rob and Star?" asked Beast Boy to no one in particular.

He, Raven and Cyborg were all in the living room, doing what they usually did on a Saturday evening—while Raven meditated (or tried to), Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing some new video-game they'd managed to buy after months of saving money. It'd been a hard time, not being able to eat pizza or go to the cinema to not to waste money, but they'd finally done it.

But, as much as they were having fun (most of them), Beast Boy noticed something. "It's quieter without Robin shouting we have to train. Do you think he and Starfire are together?"

Cyborg hit the pause button to stare at his green friend. "You think so?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "After what happened last month, maybe they'd realised time is gold?"

Raven sighed and decided to join the conversation. "I heard them get out of their rooms at the same time this morning. Of course they are together, but I don't know where."

"Oh man," sputtered Beast Boy, forgetting the video-game. "Oh man oh man oh man, we have to investigate this!"

Cyborg and Raven looked at him, curious—they didn't like to pry, but if Robin and Starfire were together… they'd been playing around each other for the last month, but the rest of the Titans didn't think Robin was writing his guide anymore, since the things he and Starfire did were most normal—tease each other, talk, laugh… things people did. But the way they looked at each other while doing so… it told everything they didn't dare saying. Since Robin had almost died, they had demonstrated their feelings a bit more, and if they were together now, they wanted to know what their partners were doing.

"Okay, but where do we begin looking for them?"

* * *

"We have to move," muttered Robin, though he could barely move his mouth to speak.

Starfire moved closer to him, even though she was already really close. While she was doing fine, Robin was having the worst time of his life, and the most embarrassing. He couldn't stop shivering, and if it weren't for Starfire, he'd be unconscious by now. She'd helped him put his cape around his head, because the Batman had told him that if he was to suffer hypothermia he had to protect his brain (head) and his heart (chest). Starfire had been carrying a jacket with herself, because they'd left the tower at dawn and this was supposed to be only a recon mission, and she'd put it around his chest.

He was still at a bad condition though. He could barely talk.

"I don't know," he managed to say, "if I have mild or moderate hypothermia. If I can touch my thumb with my pinkie, I've got mild."

"Okay," responded Starfire, helping Robin move his arm from behind the jacket so they could see his hand. "Robin, I am waiting for you to move your fingers."

"I can't," he sputtered, trying to force his fingers together. "I can't, Star. I—I—"

"It's okay, it's okay," reassured Starfire, putting his arm back behind the jacket. She bit her lower lip, not knowing what to do, and Robin really, really wanted to say something, but he barely could open his mouth. "We have to get out of here," she said, getting up. Robin felt even colder. " _I_ have to get you out of here."

She started punching the door again, and Robin didn't have the energy to tell her that it was pointless—if she hadn't opened it already, she wouldn't open it. And the thing he feared the most was, he was close to severe hypothermia, and that was the last kind. After that… _bye-bye Robin_. But that wouldn't happen. He had to stay awake, to survive. He'd been stabbed, he'd been punched, he'd been through worse things that this.

But he was so tired. His eyelids closed, and his head lolled to one side, and—

"Hey! Robin, stay awake. You cannot fall asleep, you told me that earlier." Starfire came to his side and hugged him again, but it didn't do anything, Robin was still cold. She opened his eyes with her fingers and when she was sure he wasn't going to close them, pressed her cheek against his. She had to keep him warm. Had to keep him entertained. Yes, that was it. She had to keep him entertained until her friends came for them. "You know what I miss the most about my home planet?"

"Mhmm?" he murmured.

Starfire clutched his hand under the jacket; she didn't want to lose him—she'd been so close, a moth ago. She didn't want it to happen again. She didn't want to be in this situation. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she batted them again before they could freeze. "The _weather_. It was really warm there, more than the summers in this planet. I think you would love it too, Robin."

"Yeah," he muttered, though Starfire wasn't very sure he was aware of what she was talking. It didn't matter anyway, the only important thing was that he didn't fall asleep.

"You know?" she said, this time barely a whisper, "I like you, Dick." It was the first time she'd said that aloud, and to be honest, it felt good. "I think I have liked you for a long time, but I realised it last month, when you stopped talking to me and drifted away. I am curious. What is it you have under your bed that you wanted to give me? It has been bothering me since then. But, anyway, I do not know if I should have told it to you. I like you. That is it. Do not fall asleep, please." This time there was no answer, so Starfire turned her head to face him, and his eyes were closed. "Robin," she said, shaking him by the shoulder. He didn't respond. "Dick, come on."

A second passed, and just when Starfire thought she'd lost him again, Robin mumbled something unintelligible. "What did you say, Robin?"

He moaned and opened his eyes a little, his head to one side, and he actually smiled, though it was kind of a delirious smile, which Starfire decided to think as a bad sign. "I would kill for a bagel right now."

"Excuse me?"

"I love bagels," he mumbled, sticking out his tongue at her, as if that explained what he just said. "Haven't you tried them? They're _delicious_. But I like them even more with milk. Bats used to said that I should drink more milk but I didn't want to, so Alfred had the idea to feed me a glass of milk with some bagels. I miss them."

Starfire was really confused. He was obviously raving and he hadn't heard a word of what she had said, which meant something wrong was happening. Well, Robin freezing was bad enough as it was, but Robin raving was worse. And Starfire didn't understand a word of what he was saying. "Bats? Alfred?"

Robin tried to nod, Starfire guessed, but his head barely moved. "Yep. Bats. The Batman. My dad. Adoptive dad, well. And Alfred, y'know, the butler. He's more like a really sophisticated granddad, but I dunno."

His _dad_? Wow, no way he had acted all crazy and lovingly last month when Robin had lost consciousness. Starfire knew that Robin's parents had died while they were in the circus, but he had never told any of the member of the Titans that then he'd been adopted by no one else than the _Batman_. She looked again at him, and was about to wonder how the Batman decided that adopting a child was a good idea when she noticed something. First, Robin's skin was puffy and bluer, and second, he was starting to get off the jacket she'd given him, his gloves, the cape from his head.

Forgetting completely what he'd just said, Starfire rushed to put all the things back in their places. "What are you doing?" she shouted, feeling more anxious than ever.

"I'm hot," he said, as if it was obvious. "What are _you_ doing? _Who_ are you, by the way? You've been standing there for a while."

Starfire stopped where she was. "Robin?" she mumbled, feeling tears again in her eyes.

"What?" his words were slurred, and she could barely understand him.

"I am Starfire," she muttered, approaching him slowly. "You know who I am, do you not?"

He stared at her for a bit while he got off his boots too. Why was he doing this? He was supposed to be cold, not hot. Even she was starting to feel the cold air. "No," he finally said, and Starfire felt her heart stop for a second.

"Leave me—alone," he said, grimacing.

And before Starfire could react, his eyes went white and his head hit the floor, leaving him in a weird position. Once more, Starfire rushed to him—she shook his body, shouted at him, but he didn't react, so she started putting his clothes back on just like they were before he started removing them. She didn't know a lot about hypothermia and how to deal with it, but she knew that him not recognising her and getting his clothes off weren't good signs. The worst things was that she didn't have the slightest idea of what to do, and the Titans weren't coming and Robin was dying in front of her—again.

Starfire slapped him. She screamed, and she slapped him again. And again and again and again. She slapped him until he opened his eyes once more. She hugged him, trying to warm his body. Robin started shouting, confused, telling her to leave him, to go away, but Starfire was stronger, and she held him anyway.

Tears pooled in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. No one would fall on her watch.

* * *

When the Titans found them, Starfire was so close to Robin they could have been mistaken for one person. Robin had his eyebrows and hair white with ice, and as far as Beast Boy could tell, he wasn't breathing. When the door opened, Starfire took a few seconds to react; she ordered them to help Robin because Doctor Light had imprisoned them and Robin was dying of hypothermia, and she didn't think he was breathing, just like Beast Boy had thought.

Beast Boy was going to kill him. How did he dare, die now? He had been stabbed and lived to tell it, and if the Batman knew his partner had almost died again, he would disband the Titans for sure for putting his Robin at risk like that. Not that that was more important than Robin, but _still_.

Cyborg saw Robin, touched him, smelled him—Beast Boy didn't understand anything—and he declared that Robin had severe hypothermia and that he was still alive, but needed to be revived slowly or else he would die for good. Starfire opened her mouth, shocked, at that. "Revived?" she asked, eyes teary.

"Rewarmed," clarified Cyborg, picking up Robin. "We've got to get to the tower _now_."

And so they went. While Starfire clutched Robin's hand—it painfully reminded everyone of last moth—Cyborg ordered Raven and Beast Boy to fetch three plastic bottles of hot water, which they did. Cyborg told them that one way of reviving—rewarming—severe hypothermia patients was to put two bottles of hot water under the armpits and one in the groin. Robin, wearing only his mask and underpants (they had little red hearts on them; if it wasn't because he was dying, Beast Boy would have laughed) looked ridiculous. They also put an electric blanket on him, and then they just had to wait.

After two hours and a half, when everyone had almost lost any hope, they heard something. "I hate dying."

Beast Boy, as the rest of the group got up as fast as they could, smirking and smiling and cheering, wanting to kill and hug Robin at the same time—from now on, Beast Boy wasn't going to let Robin go lone anywhere. _Anywhere_. He saw Raven sigh in relieve, and Cyborg grin because of what he'd done to bring Robin back.

But if they thought they were happy, they couldn't imagine how Starfire was, because she stood up, fury in her eyes, and slapped Robin in the face. He already had a mark of where she'd slapped him before.

She slapped him again, this time in the other side of the face. Robin opened his mouth to say something, but she was faster. It was like seeing a movie. "Stop. Doing. That."

Starfire looked like she was going to punch him again.

But she kissed him instead.


End file.
